Milkshake mania

OK, so maybe not that much mania. But it did take us ages to find it!

To start making sense, yesterday Percy and I went on a magical mystery tour to try to find this place:

Picture from here, where there are also reviews

Personally, I blame Percy's smartphone. 

We had just seen Arietty (the new Ghibli film, which was really good. Although Percy complained that there was barely any flying in it) and decided we wanted milkshakes. As we were in Soho (the Curzon cinema is another recommendation, if you happen to be in those parts and fancy watching a film with drink in hand, and maybe a meringue or two), we had to go to the aforementioned diner. The milkshakes are good (and huge), and if you're sitting in the jukeboxes are hours of fun. 

Earlier in the day we had met Whizzkid (actually, Whizzkid and I met up first, and then Percy rucked up an hour or so later, with some lame, just-got-back-to-England excuse) and sat in a park while under aerial attack from a squirrel. If you want to eat conkers, that's fine, but don't drop the skins on people! 

Whizzkid had earlier helped me on a Secret Shopping Mission near Waterloo, where he met a dog that behaved like a cat. There was also a baby in its own backpack tent. 

I'm going to go to bed soon, as being at work all day has made me slightly crazy.

Goodnight!

Penguins!

This post is mainly for Jumanji, as she has a special affinity with penguins. Also, I was very excited to see them at Dublin Zoo because there weren't any at London Zoo, which was probably the only disappointment of that trip.

The penguin in the middle with his wings out had just emerged from the water, where he had been putting on a synchronised swimming display. I think he liked the attention. 

Not much else to say for today. I went to work, I worked, at some point I had lunch. Journalism is an exciting business, I promise! It should be quite exciting on Sunday, actually, as we have a surprise full page again and I am also supposed to be learning to put things on the internet (you know, in an official way). I am sure I will be spending plenty of time distractedly searching for interesting internet things (actually part of my job! Along with checking betting websites and looking up saints on Catholic Online) while trying to find good, cut-out-able pictures. 

Both my godmothers are in Woking at the moment and we have spent quite a long time this evening eating crepes and discussing music, men, young people today and so forth. Consequently, I am quite worn out!

Goodnight!

Ireland again

I think this blog might have been pronounced dead already, but with a little help from the twin witchdoctors Caffeine and Procrastination, I'm hoping to have it up and lurching about in no time!

I have returned from Ireland, where I was on holiday with the boyf (although he was slightly less on holiday as he lives there, and we spent quite a lot of time in his house). He has a shiny new netbook, which I am not allowed to play with, so I'm going to go ahead and blame that and forgetting my camera cable for the lack of blogging. Have you noticed how it's never my fault? That's because I'm a paragon of virtue, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

So now we will have a few pictures of our exploits, to get this holiday thing well and truly out of my system (not really - I'm going home to Scotland next week, to see my family (and especially my mother, as it will be her birthday (any anonymous suggestions of what might make a good present very much appreciated))):

First up, cake! We did a proper sightseeing day in Dublin, and one of the stops on our itinerary (OK, vague list of things to do) was the Queen of Tarts, a very charming little cake shop near Dublin Castle. I recommend the carrot cake, if you ever visit it.  I can vouch for Irish carrot cake in general, actually!

And tea, of course

We also visited Dublin Zoo! It was extremely exciting, although as pretty much the only two adults in the entire zoo without any children in tow, we drew a little envy from the other punters.

You can just about make out the flamingoes in the background

These pigs were really cool, although the big version looked like the inspiration behind most of the puppet monstrosities that made children's films and television terrifying in the olden days (Labyrinth, I'm looking at you).

They also have very long tufty ears

I don't normally get overly gooey over animals (I try not to, anyway), but this kid was just so adorable and pathetic. He has a tiny cast on one of his legs where he must have broken it or something, and all the bigger goats kept chasing him away from the food.

What hope is there for a goat outcast?

We also went on a trip to Cork, which was pretty cool (I particularly enjoyed the Butter Museum (not joking - actually fascinating) and the Cork City Gaol. We found some coupons to go to attractions for much reduced prices, which was very handy. 

We also made a quick trip to Blarney Castle. It's absolutely beautiful, so well worth a visit even if you are too afraid of heights to kiss the stone (we both did, so any increase in eloquence can be attributed to that).

All that's missing is the dragon

We made the (very) long climb up the (very) narrow spiral staircase to the battlements, which were pretty windy. The view was amazing, though.

The boyf, contemplating

I'm quite sad to be back - I want to go off and have more adventures! 

On which note, I should probably go to bed.

Goodnight!

Quick update

So… that didn’t go very well. I know I said I was going to try to blog more and better, but then life happened.

The boyf is in town, back from his tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand (possibly not in that order), and we are staying in the flat, without internet.

I spent most of Friday being as efficient as possible in the face of my imminent holiday, visiting the doctor (I’m officially unusually bendy. That is, I have hypermobility, which apparently boils down to a few party tricks and no high heels for me ever again), getting my hair cut (my fringe was more intensely negotiated than my actual holiday plans) and trying to spend money on only sensible things. Guess how well that went!

On Friday evening, I met up with the boyf (who was shattered, having flown halfway round the world and lugged a giant backpack into central London) and we went for supper at somewhere called a Spaghetti House or something. The meal was a bit of a blur due to mutual tiredness, but I did manage to break a glass and cover my handbag in cranberry juice.

Yesterday we met up with Percy for highjinks, more shopping (I am now the proud owner of a new coat! Don’t start about it being July, the weather this weekend has made me very glad of it) and general hanging out. It rained pretty heavily, which had the helpful side effect of washing all the juice off my bag! Percy came back to the flat with us for carbonara and standing on the balcony.

Today, I have been at work, watching torrential rain on the windows and Rebekha Brooks’ arrest on the TVs. I am going to meet the boyf to go and meet Whizzkid quite soon. This has been a bit of a busy week!

We’ll be back in Woking tomorrow, so hopefully there will be time for a bit more blogging then before we head off to Dublin!

Back with a bang

OK, not too much of a bang. Sorry I've been neglecting blogging recently, I'm sure you must have been bereft. There has been a lot going on in my life recently (not least the exciting scandal that is keeping my workplace surrounded by television crews) and I have been pretty busy. 

However, there is no point in having a blog if it is just for when you want to boast about your life, as that would get pretty dull after a while. I'll try harder, although I should say now that I like having a job too much to make a good 'inside source' on the current hysteria embracing journalism. 

I had a spontaneous Nando's session with Lady Zorro this evening, which was awesome! I'd missed that chicken-y goodness. The couple on the table next to us spent most of their meal ignoring each other to tap away on their phones, which was a little odd. They broke off for a ten minute conversation, then got back down to business. And neither of us could remember actually seeing them eat anything, either... 

I got home this evening to find a parcel waiting for me. Always exciting, but this one was from Jelly Button Jewellery. I placed an order ages ago, and promptly forgot about it. They might have done too, but they evidently remembered as I am now the proud owner of some of their quirky trinkets. 

I loved the packaging: 

A free Wham bar is a sure way to my heart. Also, confetti!

The website is here, in case you want to check it out. 

I would take pictures of the jewellery, but my camera seems to have taken against small objects, with an Inigo Montoya-like singlemindedness, so I'll leave it for now. 

On that characteristically lazy note, goodnight! 

This is a post about beer

... and other good things, in honour of a very wonderful man.

I've been to the Guinness storehouse in Dublin and drunk the free samples. I am not a beer person, but a lot of my favourite people are, so I am glad it exists for them!

From here

If anybody ever asks me what team I support, it will always be the Natal Sharks.

From here

(It helps that they're good!)

I have never been an avid follower of Formula 1, but sometimes there are crashes which makes it interesting. Also it is impressive how much money people are prepared to spend on cars that don't have passenger seats. 

From here

Time for one of my own pictures, I think!

It doesn't get much better than a braai. 

Let's finish with a little opera:

Goodnight!

Reprieve?

I bought this necklace for the beads, which are both colourful and wooden and will thus be very useful in making all sorts of other things, but I haven't been able to bring myself to unthread it yet. It's just so colourful. It's impossible to be anything less than cheerful while wearing it!

Today we go free cupcakes at work, and I went to a big meeting about the online edition. It was on the 13th floor of the building, and the views were amazing! Wish I'd known in advance so I could have snuck my camera in. You could look down onto Tower Bridge, and the Shard looked like a modest development in comparison.  Very cool. 

It's happened. Summer is here and so are the tourists. I'm really starting to hate using Tower Hill station, as it is now Mecca for idiots in backpacks. Yesterday, an American family with six children (mormons?) crammed themselves into the same carriage as me, and one of their kids promptly pulled the passenger emergency alarm. Violence against children is wrong. Shame. 

That's it from me as it is now officially Late and I am shattered. Why must the weekend be so far away?

Goodnight! 

Smoky Saturday

I am the tongmaster

I'm mostly including this picture to make my father proud. We had a braai this evening. Or rather, I braaied while the Godmother watched tennis on TV and W tried to save some raspberries from bindweed. I am very full now, and quite sleepy, so apologies if I ramble! 

I did a bit of shopping today, and got some exciting bargains! Ever since I tidied my wardrobe, I've been alarmed by just how few clothes I have. It seems that way when I'm trying to get ready for work, anyway!

Speaking of work, I'm back in tomorrow and next free on Friday. I must remember to check to see if those babies made it into today's paper. I was under some internal pressure to get one of them in for today (and ended up talking to some fairly impressive journalists in the process), so I will be dismayed if the page has been eaten by adverts. 

I'm going to keep it short and sweet for now, as I am having trouble typing. My brain is unimpressed by the amount of sleep in order!

Goodnight!